Magnetic iron nanoparticles (Fe<SUB>3</SUB>O<SUB>4</SUB>) were synthesized and characterized using Fourier Transformed Infrared ((FT-IR), UV-Visible spectrophotometer, Scanned Electron Microscopy (SEM) equipped with an Energy Dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The synthesized nano catalyst was used in the transesterification of mahogany seed oil with methanol. The optimized reaction conditions gave a reaction yield of 88% at a catalyst concentration of 1.5% wt., a volume ratio of methanol to oil of 5:1, a reaction temperature of 60 °C, and a reaction time of 120 minutes. The Fe<SUB>3</SUB>O<SUB>4</SUB> nanoparticles was regenerated from the mixture and reused for various circles by applying the optimum conditions obtained during the present study. The results showed that the biodiesel yield decreased by increasing the number of cycles when the regenerated catalyst was used. However, good conversion (81.9%) was obtained up to the 5th cycles. The elemental analysis of the synthesized magnetic iron nanoparticles Fe<SUB>3</SUB>O<SUB>4</SUB>) revealed the highest proportion of iron with 64.37 and 74.40% for atomic and weight concentration respectively, followed by oxygen with 34.27 and 24.50% for atomic and weight concentrations respectively. It could be concluded that the synthesized nano catalyst would serve as an excellent catalyst for the transesterification of vegetable oils.

Like electricity, hydrogen is an excellent energy carrier, as it can be produced from many different and abundant precursors, such as natural gas, coal, water, and renewable energy. The use of hydrogen in fuel cells, particularly in the transport sector, will make it possible to diversify the energy supply, take advantage of domestic resources, and reduce oil imports dependence. Unlike other fuels, hydrogen (H<SUB>2</SUB>) can be generated and consumed without emitting carbon dioxide (CO<SUB>2</SUB>). This results in great ecological benefits and fundamental challenges. Hydrogen can operate in a closed and inexhaustible cycle based on the cleanest, most abundant, and elemental substances: water, oxygen, and hydrogen. If hydrogen is generated using light, heat, and electricity produced from solar, wind, or nuclear energy, hydrogen becomes a versatile and universal means of storing and transporting energy and a necessary element for future energy systems that operate without environmental pollution, CO<SUB>2</SUB>, and other gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. Hydrogen is necessary to eliminate environmental pollution and stabilize the composition of the planet’s atmosphere and climate. This paper investigates different methods of hydrogen production in the term of their technological and economic aspects. This paper shows that thermochemical methods dominate the hydrogen market while emerging electroreduction methods are developing fast, which might turn the tide in the future.

Essentiality of water sustain life, and a satisfactory supply must be readily available to promote health, prolong life expectancy and prevent diseases. This study assesses the sources and quality of drinking water in Piwoyi community of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. Thirty-five (35) Boreholes and Two (2) Sachet water were identified sources of drinking water in Piwoyi Community. Six Samples (5 Boreholes and 1Sachet water) were selected at random and analyzed in the laboratory. The Physicochemical parameters examined include electrical conductivity (EC), pH, temperature, turbidity, dissolve oxygen (DO), chloride, total hardness, alkalinity, nitrate, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, phosphorous, sulphate, sodium, potassium, fluoride, bicarbonate, nitrate-nitrogen, nitrite, copper, iron and zinc; and Microbiological parameters include Coliforms, E-coli and Faecal Strep. The results of analysis shows significant concentration of physicochemical and microbiological parameters in the samples of water analyzed according to Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality thereby makes the water unsafe for drinking. Drinking from these sources of water will pose serious health risk to the people of Piwoyi Community. Therefore, the study helps to identify the contaminated locations as well as assist to follow emerging remedial measures toward controlling the contamination source in the community. It also recommends continuous monitoring and enforcement of environmental violations, aggressive sensitization on water sanitation and hygiene; adequate purification of water at domestic level; and government support on potable water supply and establish reasonable management strategies for sustainable water quality protection toward protecting public health.

Three novel coordination polymers {[Cu<SUB>2</SUB>(bitbu-OMe)<SUB>4</SUB>(SO<SUB>4</SUB>)<SUB>2</SUB>]·6MeOH}<SUB>n</SUB> (<b>1</b>), {[Co<SUB>2</SUB>(bitbu-OMe)<SUB>4</SUB>(NCS)<SUB>4</SUB>]<SUB>0.5</SUB>·2DMF}<SUB>n</SUB> (<b>2</b>), {[Co(bitbu-OMe)<SUB>2</SUB>(NCS)<SUB>2</SUB>]·2MeOH}<SUB>n</SUB> (<b>3</b>) (bitbu-OMe = 1,1’-[(5-tert-butyl-2-methoxybenzene-1,3-diyl)dimethanediyl]bis(<i>1H</i>-imidazole)) are synthesized through a slow evaporation method using solvothermal technique of CuSO<SUB>4</SUB>·5H<SUB>2</SUB>O or Co(SCN)<SUB>2 </SUB>with bitbu-OMe. X-ray diffraction analysis results reveal that <b>1</b>, <b>2</b>, and <b>3</b> have similar two-dimensional layer networks. The study of the effect of the methoxy group in bitbu-OMe towards the stability of ligand conformation in obtained coordination polymers becomes necessary to be conducted in the future to unveil the reason for conformation similarity of ligand in coordination polymers.

The present work describes the geometry and electronic structures of liquid crystals of azoxybenzene group and their reactivity with respect to molecular properties: total energy, ionization potential, electron affinity, HOMO energy, LUMO energy, electronegativity, hardness and dipole moment. Literature shows that mesomorphism depends particularly on the nature of terminal groups and their linkages with parent molecule. And thus, substitution of terminal groups can help to fine tune the liquid crystal behavior and also their applications. In this work the effect of four terminal groups of same and diverse nature has been studied. For the study, the molecular modeling and geometry optimization of the compounds have been performed on workspace program of CAChe Pro 5.04 software of Fujitsu using DFT method.

We reported here the microwave assisted synthesis of 3,5-disubstituted 1,2,4-triazole based piperazine amide and urea derivatives with very good yield under mild reaction conditions.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are important class of persist organic pollutants that were used as a component of paints especially in printings, as plastificator of plastics and insulating materials in transformers and capacitors, heat transfer fluids, additives in hydraulic fluids in vacuum and turbine pumps. There is always a need to establish reliable procedures for predicting the bioconcentration potential of chemicals from the knowledge of their molecular structure, or from readily measurable properties of the substance. Hence, correlation and prediction of biococentration factors (BCFs) based on λ<SUB>max</SUB> and vibration frequencies of various bonds viz υ(C-H) and υ(C=C) of biphenyl and its fifty-seven derivatives have been made. For the study, the molecular modeling and geometry optimization of the PCBs have been performed on workspace program of CAChe Pro 5.04 software of Fujitsu using DFT method. UV-visible spectra for each compound were created by electron transition between molecular orbitals as electromagnetic radiation in the visible and ultraviolet (UV-visible) region is absorbed by the molecule. The energies of excited electronic states were computed quantum mechanically. IR spectra of transitions for each compound were created by coordinated motions of the atoms as electromagnetic radiation in the infrared region is absorbed by the molecule. The force necessary to distort the molecule was computed quantum mechanically from its equilibrium geometry and thus frequency of vibrational transitions was predicted. Project Leader Program associated with CAChe has been used for multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis using above spectroscopic data as independent variables and BCFs of PCBs as dependent variables. The reliability of correlation and predicting ability of the MLR equations (models) are judged by R<SUP>2</SUP>, R<SUP>2</SUP><SUB>adj</SUB>, se, q<SUP>2</SUP><SUB>L10O</SUB> and F values. This study reflected clearly that UV and IR spectroscopic data can be used to predict BCFs of a large number of related compounds within limited time without any difficulty.